The Ground on Which We Stand
by leabbott
Summary: With his new-found eternal youth, thanks to the Shadow, Peter Pan must travel to different worlds through space and time to bring children to Neverland while they dream. But what will happen when he meets a girl from a different time and stays too long in her world, and what will happen when he brings her back to his?(Possible smut later on, I suck at summaries, please R/R! Pan/OC)
1. Chapter 01 - Beginnings

**I do not own any rights to Peter Pan or the Shadow, nor do I own the rights to the dialogue immediately following this disclaimer. The initial dialogue has been taken from the show (Season 5, Episode 9) to provide context for the time frame this story takes place in. I own nothing from Once Upon a Time.**

**Anyways, here's my first shot at actually typing out my fanfiction! Let me know how it is, please feel free to review or send me a PM :)**

* * *

"What's the hourglass for?" Peter Pan asked incredulously as he landed on the floor of the cave, glancing around.

"It represents the magic fueling your youth. The magic allowing you to stay here, to stay young." The Shadow responded, floating next to the large object.

"What happens when it runs out?"

"Your youth will be taken… and you will die." The Shadow stated simply.

"But I thought I was going to stay young forever?" Pan asked incredulously, whirling on him.

"Neverland is a place for children to visit in their dreams, not a place for them to live. You were the first one to try and stay, and in doing so, you're breaking the rules." Hissing, the Shadow swooped down in front of him.

"Any rule can be broken, especially here! I made this place without even thinking about it. There has to be a way." Pan moved past him, walking to stand staring up at the golden dust trickling through the funnel.

"Perhaps."

Peter Pan stared up at the hour glass in front of him as the sand slowly trickled down into the lower reservoir. "Then I will find it. I will find it. I believe."

The Shadow floated behind him, its eyes' sinister light reflecting in the glass menacingly. Had he had a mouth, he would have smirked.

* * *

Lyra Hall sat at her desk in her dimly lit room, staring absent-mindedly at her computer screen, scrolling through one of the mindless blogging sites she all-to-often frequented. Sighing, she shut down her laptop and stood up to yawn and stretch as a cool ocean breeze blew lightly through her open window. She turned and went to sit on the bench below the window, leaning out onto the sill and breathing in the fresh, salty air. She could barely make out the sea behind the blocks and blocks of Cape Cod houses, yet still, it was there.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled in her windows and latched them shut, pulling the curtains closed as well. She checked the clock: 3:02 a.m. "Another late night." She muttered as she changed out of her jeans and pulled on a pair of light sleep shorts and a tank top and crawled in bed. _And for absolutely no reason either, _She finished as she turned out her light and sank into the pillows.

She stared at the ceiling for a while, unable to quiet her mind enough to close her eyes and drift off into empty slumber. Dreams had been escaping her as of late. Try as she might, when she awoke she could remember nothing of her adventures in her mind, and it felt as if she hadn't been sleeping at all. It was miserable.

When she finally gave up and glanced at the clock, it read 3:24 a.m. Lyra groaned into a pillow, suppressing the urge to scream. Had it really only been twenty minutes?

When her suppressed anger drained away, she rolled over and reached for her book on the side of her bed, _A Game of Thrones_ by George R. R. Martin. Sighing, she turned on her bedside lamp and thumbed to the page where she had last left off, and began to read.

* * *

"Your job is to guide the dream-selves of children to Neverland so that they can spend their time here while they sleep. They will find their own way back as they wake." The Shadow told Pan abruptly as they flew over the trees of Neverland.

Pan's hooting ended abruptly, and he stopped mid-air. "You mean I have a job to do? This is ridiculous! I thought that was your job!"

The Shadow had paused a few feet away from him, floating deadly still. "It was, yes, but now that you're on the island, you'll need something to keep you busy. And other children, as well. I have more important matters to attend to."

"Like what?! You're a shadow, what could you possibly have to do?" Pan sneered.

The Shadow swooped in dangerously close, but Pan did not flinch. "That is not your concern." Turning, the Shadow pointed to the sky, at the various stars that littered the black abyss. "Those are not stars, those are worlds. There you will find the children you are to guide here, one at a time. Simply fly towards any of them and you will be transported there after some time. Once you extract a child's dream-self, it will follow you back here. Only once it has entered Neverland will it become conscious of its surroundings."

Pan scoffed. "And how exactly am I supposed to get back here? I'm not your lackey!"

The Shadow was mere inches from Pan's face. "Find the brightest star in the sky, and fly towards the one to its immediate right. Second star to the right, do not forget it." He turned to fly away towards the other end of the island before turning back to Pan. "A word of warning: Time has no effect here; here, time stands still. Therefore the worlds you travel to will not be of the same time period of which your world was. You could travel to a world a thousand years in the future, or one hundred years in the past. It makes no matter, children are children, and you will bring them here all the same. That being said, the longer you stay in one world, the more you will age. You have eternal youth only here in Neverland. Stay in one world for longer than a few minutes, and when you return you will be older. This I cannot reverse. Spend your time wisely, Peter Pan."

And with that the Shadow vanished into the trees, leaving Pan alone amongst the tree tops. For a while he glared into space before finally turning to the sky. He crossed his arms over his chest before deciding on a considerably inconspicuous and dim star to his right. Frowning, he took off for it at full speed, curious to see a new world. He never once thought of Rumple.

* * *

Lyra woke with a gasp, sitting straight up in bed as she coughed for air. A thin sheen of sweat beaded down her arms and cross her forehead, and she threw off the covers and shivered, glancing about the room suspiciously. She checked the clock. 5:39 a.m. So she had gotten maybe two hours of sleep at best. She groaned, turning to throw a pillow at the clock until she noticed the window: wide open, with a breeze fluttering gently through the curtains. The observation froze her to the spot, unable to move or scarcely breeze.

_I know I shut it, and I latched it too, I know I did. _She thought frantically, her eyes slowly raking the room for any signs of an intruder. It was unlikely; her room resided on the second story, and it had no balcony either, yet still she searched. When did the lamp turn off? Had she done that before she fell asleep? She couldn't recall. And where was her book? The last thing she remembered, she had been reading in her bed with the lamp on and the window shut.

She thought she heard movement in the back corner of her room, yet even by moonlight she could see nothing, the corner was drenched in shadow. Still, she chucked the pillow at it, and it landed with a soft thud on the floor, not hitting anything.

Lyra sat in bed for a few moments longer, her hair lazily drifting around her face from the wind. Finally she let out the breath she had been holding and climbed out of bed, moving to latch the window once more.

Yet when she stepped onto the floor, she heard rustling beneath her bed, and she squealed and jumped to the side, towards her desk. "Who's there?!" She shouted, grabbing her 3-hole-punch to use as a weapon if need be.

Suddenly, a shape leapt out from beneath her bed and dove out the window, and Lyra suppressed a screech of shock before running after it, bracing herself against the sill as she threw her head over the side to look down, but when she glanced at the ground, there was nothing there. She looked frantically around the yard, yet still, nothing. Her heart pounding, she let her makeshift weapon fall to the cushion beneath her and pulled the windows in once more, latching them as well as setting in the permanent locks on the side before pulling the curtains shut completely. She backed away from the window slowly before sitting down on her bed.

It was a long while before she could finally lie down once more, and by then, it was mere minutes until her alarm went off for school.

* * *

Peter Pan found himself on the shore of an unknown world with strange, tall buildings and structures along the coast, as well as strange bridges jutting out into the open sea that led to nowhere. For a while he was dazed and confused. _What kind of weird place is this?_ He thought, before remembering the Shadow's warning. If he stayed too long in one world, he would begin to age again. Therefore it was more out of fear than excitement that he began to fly from house to house, looking for a child to bring back to Neverland with him.

Yet the first house he stopped at drew him in not because of the child, but because of the bright light emanating from the window. He drew closer and peaked in, shielding his eyes and taking precautions not to be seen. His jaw slowly fell at all the strange things he couldn't even begin to describe in the room, but what caught his attention was the girl sitting in the bed.

She was not so much a child, but rather appeared to be a few years older than his body now, yet she was not an adult, either. Her wavy, espresso colored hair sprawled in soft waves and loose coils across her shoulders, cheek, and pillow, one strand caught between her pursed pink lips. A book rested atop her chest, one strap of her tank top fallen off her shoulder, her arm flung across the remainder of her large bed. Pan chewed his lip, wondering how to continue.

He floated over to the window and used his knife to raise the latch, then gently pulled the window open. Drifting inside with the sea breeze, he moved to float over the girl, noticing the faint smattering of freckles across her cheeks. When he glanced at the thing the light came from, it snuffed out. He looked back to the girl, reaching a hand down to gently move the hair from her face. She was very beautiful, he decided. He picked up her book, glancing at the symbols incredulously before tossing it to the side. It's not like he could read what they said, anyways.

_So, how do I extract her dream-self…? _He thought to himself as his hand lingering in front of her lips, feeling her shallow breaths on his fingertips. He stared hard, beginning to see a second shape forming beneath her skin. _That must be it! _He realized, and pinched her breath between his fingers, beginning to draw her second-self out between her lips.

That is, until she sat straight up in bed with a gasp, sucking her dream-self back into her body. It was all Pan could do not to cry out as he reeled backwards, quickly swooping under the bed before she had a chance to register that he was there. He heard her shifting in bed, saw the pillow land in the corner of the room where she thought someone was. _Shit. She knows someone is here._ Pan suppressed a groan.

When he heard her step out of bed, he went to slip out the other side, near her door, to ready himself to launch out the window. He wasn't quiet enough, though, and her squeal signaled that she had heard him. When she shouted, he lost all sense of pretense and launched himself out from under the bed and dove out the window, swinging upwards to land on the roof and catch his breath.

He heard her scamper to the window, saw her look around frantically for him, and he thanked his lucky stars she had not looked up. When he heard the window latch and lock, he swooped back down again to peek inside, but found the curtains drawn. He sighed, then remembered the Shadow's warned, and dashed off towards the second star on the right, not wishing to face the consequences of staying in this world another minute.


	2. Chapter 02 - Encounters

**Thank you for all of you who have reviewed/favorited/followed this story! I didn't expect to get any feedback at all for a least a couple days, and it's only been less than 12 hours! You guys made my day :)**

**That said, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Pan flew lazily about the island, floating on his back as if he were floating on water. He had his pan flute resting on his pouting lips as he watched the stars appear in the sky, searching for the small, dim one he had been visiting every night since he first found that girl. She intrigued him. None of the other children he had ever brought to Neverland awoke when he extracted their dream-selves; in fact, they remained almost catatonic until they set foot on the shore and Pan flew off. So why did that girl wake up?

Biting his lip, Pan did a back flip until he stood straight up in the air, slowly rising until he was hundreds of feet above the highest tree. It had been many days since he had even glimpsed the Shadow, nevertheless spoken to it. The one time he tried to follow it about the island, to try to figure out what exactly it was doing, he followed it straight into a cliff face, leaving a nasty bruise on his forehead. He hadn't made that mistake again.

Finally the star he was looking for was bright enough to see, and he grinned, flying towards it at full speed, leaving the Shadow and Neverland far behind.

He found himself on the same shoreline as always, the soft ocean waves lapping against his ankles. Breathing in the cool night air, he took off for the same wood-shingled house as before, but this time finding the window wide open. He landed on the sill gently, a little suspicious of it, and looked around.

She was lying in her bed again, facing him, buried up to her neck beneath her covers. All lights were off, all books put away. Nothing out of the ordinary. Stepping off the ledge, he floated towards her. He hadn't attempted to extract her dream-self since their first encounter, afraid she would wake up, but this time he was going to attempt. He wanted to speak with her, find out her name, find out why she woke up that one time. He reached in front of her lips, and then frowned. He couldn't see her dream self, and that was odd. His eyes widened. Something was wrong –

Her hand shot up and grabbed his wrist, yanking him down to her as the windows slammed shut and latched. Her eyes opened immediately, a fiery brown the smoldered with shock and anger as the light switched on.

* * *

It had been almost a month since she had last seen the shape that leapt out of her window, but she knew it kept returning. At first it was just things overturned, or finding her book or her phone in a different place than she left it. Nothing big, most people wouldn't have noticed it, but the shape made her nervous. What did it want with her?

One night she sprinkled sand across the window sill and cushion. A pain in the ass to clean up? Absolutely, but it was worth it. The shape had come again, she found in the morning, as she discovered a few boyish footprints in the sand where the shape had landed. But how did he get into her room? As far as she could tell, there was no way to climb up, especially without making a racket, and she never found a ladder or anything leaning against the side of her house.

After the 3rd week of visits, Lyra decided to do something about it. She was never able to catch him or get a glimpse of him; if she woke up, he always dove right out the window again. It was almost as if she were a character in one of her favorite books, and that prospect scared her. In books and movies and TV shows, when these things happened, they hardly ever had a happy ending.

She wanted answers. Finally, she decided to lay a trap bigger than mere sand on the window sill. Creeping downstairs, she grabbed a spool of twine and scissors from the garage, cutting two long strands before tying one to each handle of her window and carefully pushing it open, trailing the string back to bed. The twine was long enough that it draped easily over her bench, floor, and mattress, and could hardly be seen in the dark. She put the remote that controlled the lights in her bedroom next to it, turned off all the lights, and climbed into bed. She checked the clock: 2:39 a.m. If he came tonight, he would be here soon.

She lay about restlessly, fighting the urge to toss and turn, carefully keeping her eyes shut. It felt like an eternity before she heard a soft _swoosh_ and the patter of footsteps on the sill. Laying very still, Lyra tried to regulate her breathing, counting backwards from 30 as she felt something hovering over her. The lightest of fingers brushed against her lips as she reached _1_ in her head, and her hand shot up to snatch his wrist as her other yanked hard on the twine, forcibly pulling the window shut until she heard the latch snap shut. She quickly pressed the button on her remote the turned on her bedside lamp, and came face-to-face with the shape that had been haunting her room for a month.

_A boy…?_ She thought incredulously, their faces inches apart. Neither moved, scarcely breathing, as they studied one another. He had dirty blond hair – in both senses, she saw dirt smudged across his cheek and in his hair – with moss green eyes and soft, plump lips. He looked to be about 15. Her nose crinkled incredulously, what was he doing in her room?

It was then that she noticed he wasn't standing on her bed, but floating above her. Her eyes widened and she cried out, shoving him away and backing up into her headboard, hitting her skull on a sharp edge. She cried out again, but never took her eyes off the boy who had landed at the other end of her bed. She wielded her remote like a weapon. "Who are you?" She whispered, terrified.

He just stared back at her with the same terrified expression as her own, mouth hanging open slightly. They stared at each other for a long time until Lyra decided he wasn't a threat. If he were, he would have done something by now. She slowly lowered the remote to the bed and shoved it to the edge, holding up her hands to signal she wasn't a threat. She tried again. "Who are you? Why are you in my room?"

* * *

Peter landed with a _thud_ on the edge of her bed, hitting his tail bone on the foot board. He grunted, looking back at the girl in front of him, wielding a remote control and poised to throw it. He froze, staring back at those fiery brown eyes. _Crap. How the hell am I going to get out of this?_ He thought, inwardly panicking. When she asked who he was, he inched back almost unperceptively, unsure of how to respond. It wasn't until she lowered her make-shift weapon that he relaxed slightly. She asked his name again, and he glanced about. There was no way to escape.

"My name is M… Peter. Peter Pan." He said carefully, wary of her every movement. When she guffawed, it caught him off guard.

"P-Peter Pan? Like the fairy tale? You've got to be kidding me!" She laughed, but stopped when she noticed his puzzled expression. "You're being serious, aren't you…?"

He sat up, glaring at her. "How could I not be, it's my name!" She was no threat to him, he realized, and that made him bolder. "What's your name?"

She glanced at him warily. "Why should I tell you?"

He pursed his lips, close to a pout but not quite. "I told you my name. It's only fair."

It took her a little while to answer. He could tell she didn't trust him. "Lyra Hall."

Lyra. He liked that name, it had a sing-song quality to it, and he smiled, more of a smirk if anything. He went to ask another question before glancing at the window, his eyes widening as he saw light trickling onto the horizon. Jumping out of bed and running towards the window, he attempted to open it, to no avail.

"What are you doing?" He heard Lyra's voice behind him, heard her shift on the bed. He pushed the window harder, grunting. He had to leave, had to leave now. How much time had he spent here? It couldn't have been more than a few minutes, couldn't have… And yet when he came it was full dark, and now the sun was rising.

Finally he remembered the latch and quickly pulled it loose, throwing the windows open and jumping out into the air. He heard a gasp from behind him, heard Lyra shout "Wait, wait!" as he flew off towards the slowly dimming second star to the right, but did not look back.

* * *

Lyra ran towards the window just in time to see Peter fly off towards the horizon, and she rubbed her eyes to make sure she was seeing it right. He was _flying?_ She stayed at the window for a long time after he had vanished from view, unable to really process what she had seen.

"Peter Pan…" She murmured, sitting down on the window sill. She had just met Peter Pan. She laughed at her own stupidity, one leg dangling out the window as her head rested against the window pain. "Peter Pan." She repeated again as her eyes closed from exhaustion, only to fly open once again at the shrill beeping of her school alarm.

* * *

Peter landed on the shores of Neverland, gasping for air at the effort it took to get back so quickly. He looked at his reflection in the water and sighed in relief. Nothing looked different, he decided, and sat back on his heels. He stared up at the sky. "Lyra Hall…" He murmured. She interested him.

Suddenly he cried out in pain as his legs and arms burned from the inside, his extremities growing by a few centimeters until the pain subsided. He groaned and leaned back on his hands, then looked at his reflection in the water again. He didn't look very different at all, but that didn't change what he had felt. He had aged, he knew. Biting his lip, Pan stared hard at the sky again, thinking of Lyra, unsure of what to do next.


	3. Chapter 03 - Conversations

**Thanks so much for views/reviews/favorites/follows guys! It really gives me more inspiration to write knowing that people like my story, so keep them coming please :)**

**I'm trying to keep this from going too fast, but let me know if you feel like it's going too slow as well, because sometimes it's hard for me to tell!**

**This chapter is going to be from both their point of views combined, to make it easier to read and to write so that I'm not going back and forth like before. I'll be switching between third-person limited and third-person omniscient depending on the chapter because I can do that, but I'll always let you know. This one is third-person omniscient.**

* * *

_She was falling from the sky, hurtling towards a black, roiling ocean as lightning flashed across her view. Soaked and chilled to the bone, Lyra fought the urge to scream, counting backwards from 100 in her head. She felt something shoot past her shoulder and turned in terror to see what it was, throwing herself into a spiral as the world spun before her eyes. _

_Something was in front of her, turning with her, blacker than the sea rushing up to meet her, with eyes as sinister as stars. _

_"What scares you, little girl?" It hissed inside her head, and she screamed as it reached out towards her. _

Lyra awoke with a light gasp, eyes flying open and heart stopping for a moment. It took her a minute to register her surroundings: Mr. Torrance's Macroeconomics class, her last class of the day. No one seemed to have noticed that she had fallen asleep, it was a regular occurrence for anyone to pass out in the middle of one of his lectures, anyways.

When the bell rang, she was one of the first people out the door, rushing to her locker to grab her book bag and head home for the weekend. All she wanted to do was take a nice long nap before the sun set, ready to stay up yet another night.

"Lyra! Hey Lyra, wait – jeez! Lyra, wait up!" A voice called behind her, and she turned to see James running down the hallway after her.

"Oh, sorry, I was just distracted. What's up?" She yawned, slowing her pace as James grabbed her hand and fell in beside her.

"Yeah I could tell, I've been calling your name since you left Dr. T's class! What's up with you? You've been sleeping through practically every one of his lectures. It's unlike you." He frowned at her, studying the faint dark circles under her eyes and her tired expression. "Are you okay? You're worrying me."

Lyra waved the question off as she put the combination into her locker. "Nothing, just haven't been sleeping very well, is all. I'm okay, I promise." She gave him a little peck on the lips. "Listen, I'll talk to you later, okay? I need to get home, I have… family coming over for the weekend." She lied as she grabbed her book bag, tossed in her economics book, and ran off, waving a quick goodbye. They had been dating for a few months now, but she knew she couldn't tell him about Pan. He would never believe her.

Unlocking her bike, Lyra began the leisurely ride back to her house, her mind lost in thought as she took the long way home, the one that bordered the coastline. She hadn't been sleeping well, that part had been true, but it was because she had stayed up every night for the past week – since she had caught Pan in her room with her trap – hoping to see him again and speak with him. Except he had never shown up once, no matter what she tried. It made her feel crazy! Had she just imagined him in her room that night, had it been a dream? She honestly didn't know.

She parked her bike in her garage and trotted upstairs to her room, collapsing on her bed as she tossed her backpack to the floor. She sighed, staring longingly out her window at the bright blue sky. _There has to be more to life than books and homework assignments, _she thought restlessly, kicking off her boots and crawling under the covers, yawning as a deep, dreamless sleep came over her.

When she finally woke up, it was well into the night. Stars shined like fireflies against an ink black sky as she sat up and stretched, staring off into space for a few moments.

"Probably missed him already." She murmured to herself, glancing at the clock. 1:58 a.m. Although it was still relatively early, he never came at the same time of night before, so she could have easily missed him.

Lyra stood up and walked over to the window, pushing it open and resting her head on her arms on the sill. She watched the stars for a little while, her eyes fighting to stay open, before she finally exhaled and let them droop closed.

A soft _whoosh_ in front of her face awoke her, and her eyes shot open to see moss green irises hovering right before her. She sat up straight, a small, frightened gasp escaping from her lips.

"Wait, wait! Please don't go!" She cried out as he turned to bolt, leaning precariously forward and reaching for him. He stopped and turned around slowly, eyeing her warily. "Look, I… I'm sorry about before, I didn't mean to hold you hostage. I've been waiting up every night since for you, but you never came." She bit her lip as he said nothing. "Will you… will you come inside? I just want to talk to you, is all. Please?"

Pan stared back at her a moment, unsure of what to do. How long had it been here that she had been staying up _every _night since he last came? In Neverland, it had only been one day. He had been wanting to return to talk to her as well, but the idea that he might age again if he wasn't careful bothered him. He didn't want to become an adult again, not after all he had sacrificed to achieve his youth.

He flew in closer to her again, floating at eye level with her as he studied her with a smirk on his lips. "Waiting up for me, huh? Why?"

She flinched back involuntarily at his sudden movement and his invasion of her personal space. "I wanted to talk to you." She said after a moment, studying him. He sure _looked_ like one of the lost boys she had seen in the Peter Pan movies, but wasn't Peter Pan supposed to have red hair? She didn't remember him having a British accent, either. "Are you really Peter Pan?"

Peter let out a snort, crossing his arms over his chest. "Of course I am, who else could I be? Why do you keep asking that?" Somehow she had heard of him, but he didn't understand how that was possible.

"Well, to my understanding, Peter Pan is supposed to have red hair, and I don't remember him having a British accent. And aren't you supposed to have a fairy with you?" Lyra asked, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the window sill.

Peter's brow furrowed, even more confused than before. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lyra laughed then, catching him off guard. "Do you know that the story of Peter Pan is a fairy tale here? They've made two movies about you!" Whatever was going on, she knew she certainly wasn't dreaming, and that somehow her favorite childhood fairy tale had come to life.

"Movies? What are movies?" Peter flew into her room then, landing a few feet in front of her window, his back facing her before he turned around.

"They're… they're moving pictures, kind of. With sound. They tell a story. Do you really not know what a movie is?" She turned to stand in front of him, her brow furrowing. He was a very interesting character. She gauged his height, maybe only an inch or two taller than her 5'1" frame. "How old are you?" She asked abruptly.

Peter barely paid attention to her, but flew off towards the other side of the room and picked up her phone, where she had left it on her night stand. "Hmmm… well, I don't know. How old are you? And what is this, why does it like up when I press this?" He pressed the little button at the bottom repeatedly and tapped on the glass, surprised when shapes started showing up.

"Oh, give me that! That's not a toy, it's my phone!" She snatched her iPhone from him, putting it in her back pocket. "And I'm 17, thank you. How do you not know how old you are?"

"What's a phone, how does it work?" He asked, swooping off towards her desk, completely ignoring her other question. "What's this?" He pressed the keys on her laptop, laughing as the screen lit up and more images began to appear.

"It allows you to talk to someone without being in the same roo- hey! Don't mess with that, you'll break it!" She shooed him away from her computer, shutting it and leaning against the desk. "It's a laptop, you write things on it and look things up on it, too. And that's a lamp, it provides light. And that's a clock, it shows you the time. Will you stop messing around with my things?!" She let out an exasperated groan as he began to explore everything in her room. She changed her mind, he may have looked 15, but there was no way he was older than 14.

"Where are you from?" She asked abruptly.

He paused halfway into opening one of her drawers and turned to look at her, landing on the floor with soft _tap_. She was dressed oddly, in boys' clothes, a long-sleeved red shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black shorts and tall brown socks. Her hair was still tousled from sleep, he quite liked it that way. "I'm from Neverland. And you? What is this place?"

_Neverland, _she thought in awe. So he really was Peter Pan. It took her a second to realize he had asked a question. "Oh, umm, well, this is earth I guess? I live in Falmouth, it's a town in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. That probably doesn't mean anything to you." She laughed inwardly at her own stupidity. _He has no clue what you're talking about, _she scolded herself.

"Lyra? Who are you talking to up there?" She heard her mother call from downstairs, and her heart skipped a beat.

"Who was that…?" Peter asked, turning towards her door.

"No one!" She shouted back to her mother. "Shit. Fuck. You need to leave, now. Hurry, move!" She herded him towards her window as she heard her mom coming up the staircase.

"But I-" He didn't want to leave, he wanted to continue talking to her. He found her world so interesting.

"My mom can't know you're here, just go, okay?" They were at the window now, and Peter jumped out, about to fly away before Lyra grabbed his hand. "Come back tomorrow night?" She asked him quietly, and he smirked and nodded, flying off right as her mother walked into the room, but she caught no sight of him.

When Pan landed on the shores of Neverland, he hooted and did a backflip in the air. He almost didn't care as the fiery, pin-prick pain came upon him again, he and dove into the ocean to quench it. When he finally resurfaced and paddled to shore, he felt slightly taller and a little leaner, and clenched a hand into a fist, shaking the water from his hair. He sighed and laid down on the sandy beach, watching the stars as a self-satisfied smile played across his lips. What was the cut off age for being considered a child?


	4. Chapter 04 - Pixie Dust

**Thank you to the guest reviewer who gave me the go ahead to move faster :) I'll be picking up the pace a little bit but not too much! There are some things I've decided I need to establish before we move too quickly. **

**Also, to the reviewer who said they didn't like James, you'll like this chapter. It's a little short, but it accomplishes all it needs to for now!**

**And with that, chapter four! Third person omniscient once again.**

* * *

It had been nearly two months in Lyra's world since she first had that conversation with Pan, and he had been visiting her almost every night since, asking more and more questions about everything in her room and in her world, eager to learn more about her life. He still didn't quite understand how her – what was it called, a phone? – worked, or her laptop, but he enjoyed watching her explain it and seeing her little mannerisms.

Lyra had asked him an equal amount of questions, wanting to know everything there was to know about Neverland, and about his life, too. Did he find a buried treasure? Where was Tinker Bell? How were the Lost Boys? Had he defeated Captain Hook yet? What was it like to fly? Was it pixie dust that made him fly, or something else? The questions confused him, most of the time he had no clue where she got the ideas that she was asking him, but he tried to answer as best as he could.

Finally she had admitted that it was all in a Disney movie she had seen as a child, and it took him a second to remember what a movie was. He wanted to see this movie, wanted to know what she was comparing him to and if he could measure up. A couple days ago, she promised that the next time he came over they would watch it together, and he couldn't be more excited.

She would never admit it out loud, but she was excited, too. She felt herself falling for his boyish charm, but kept trying to ignore it. He was at least two years younger than her! The age difference made her uncomfortable, and besides, she was with James.

Peter flew off from Neverland the second he saw her star appear in the sky. He had never really thought of it as earth, always as her star that lead him to her each night, and tonight he couldn't be more excited to see her. He fingered the pouch that hung around his neck, a smile playing across his lips. He had a surprise for her, too.

When he flew upon her window, he found her leaning against the sill, head buried in her arms, breathing shakily. His eyebrows furrowed, and he quickly landed inside her room, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Lyra, are you okay?"

She jumped as she felt his hand on her shoulder, glancing at him and quickly looking away, one sweatered hand coming up to wipe her cheeks. "I-I'm fine, Pan. Sorry, I forgot you were coming over tonight." She stood up and quickly walked across the room away from him, not wanting him to see her like this. She had already had to explain to almost all of her friends what had happened, she didn't want to have to go through it all again.

He had noticed she never really said his first name. He didn't understand why, but now was clearly not the time to ask. He walked over to where she stood in front of her bureau, careful not to invade her space. "Lyra, what happened, why are you crying?"

"I don't want to talk about it." She whispered, leaning her head against her bureau and taking a deep breath. It had been two days already, why was she still crying about it?

Pan bit his lip, unsure of what to do next. Should he leave? Should he wait until the crying subsided? Should he comfort her? He had nothing to go upon, no previous experience to stem from. He decided to just go with his gut.

He carefully reached out and touched her shoulder, gently turning her around. When she still wouldn't look at him, he softly turned her chin to face him. "What happened? Talk to me." He said quietly. A fresh well of tears fell to her cheeks, and he nearly panicked. That was not the outcome he had expected. But after a moment she embraced him, burying her face in his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his slim waist. He froze for a moment, unsure of what was happening, before his arms wrapped around her shoulders and he held her as she cried.

_When did he get so tall…? _She thought to herself as she attempted to silence her weeping. When she had first measured their difference in height he was only a two inches taller at best, and now she barely came up to the apple of his throat. How had he grown so much in only three months? Was that even possible? He acted older, too. He wasn't always playing jokes or making a ruckus like before, although he still had that boyish gleam in his eye as always.

When her sniffling subsided, she took a step back and studied him. Yes, he did look older. His face more angular, jaw more defined. Shoulders a little broader, waist a little slimmer, arms more corded with muscle. How had so much changed without her noticing? Wasn't he only 14 just a few months before? Now he very well could have been her age.

Peter reached over and gently helped her wipe the tears from her cheeks. "What happened?" He asked again.

Lyra sighed and wiped the rest of the tears away with the sleeves of her sweater, moving to sit on the window sill. She took a very deep breath. "Remember how I said I was with a boy named James? Kind of like being engaged, but not really, not as serious. Right?"

Peter's brow furrowed. He hadn't really understood the concept of "dating" when she first told him about it, but he almost understood it now. "Yes?" He answered warily.

"Well, we're not together anymore. He broke up with me." She nearly laughed at her stupidity. "I shouldn't care this much. I didn't really like him that much anyways." Pulling her knees up to her chest, she rested her cheek on them and stared out the window.

"If you didn't like him that much, why are you crying?" Peter asked, sitting down on the cushioned bench beneath and opposite her. He didn't understand where she was going.

"Do you ever wonder what other worlds are out there, what other fairy tales actually exist? Well, I guess you don't, you get to see them." Lyra snorted, saying whatever came to mind. "But even if you did happen across a world where, say, Snow White existed, or Belle or Rapunzel, you wouldn't realize that they were just stories we were told when we were children, movies we saw on long car rides to visit families. And that they had somehow come to life." Peter knew when she said 'we,' she wasn't referring to him, but to the people in her world. Yet still he knew she was mainly referring to herself. "You wouldn't realize how much we all long for those happy endings, and that knowing they exist, well… It makes us wonder why we don't get the same shot."

"I don't see how this has anything to do with you and James…" Peter said after a moment, carefully choosing which words to say.

"Because I told James that those worlds might exist, because you exist, therefore all those other worlds must be real. Maybe they're the same world, I don't know. I don't know what I thought I would accomplish by telling him. I just wanted someone else to talk to about it, you know? So I know that all of this is really real, not just some dream. He called me crazy, accused me of cheating on him. He took you coming to my window every night to talk as me saying I was seeing someone else at night instead of him. He broke up with me two days ago." She sighed. That hadn't been the story she told her friends, she had said that James got suspicious of her not spending time with him and broke up with her, thinking she was cheating on him when she wasn't. She carefully left out the part about Peter. But now that he was here, she didn't have to lie.

Peter's face fell. He was happy she was no longer with James, but upset at how hurt she was, and that it was somehow his fault. He knew he shouldn't think like that, but had he not shown up to her window, she would still be happy, maybe. Hesitating, unsure of what to do, he decided to just let her keep talking.

"It doesn't matter. He wasn't worth my time anyways." Lyra stared up at the night sky. "Do you ever wonder what you're doing with your life? If what you're doing has any purpose at all, if you're actually accomplishing anything by doing what you're doing? I think about it all the time. Right now in other worlds there could be people fighting wars for kingdoms, rescuing princesses, defeating evil queens and sorceresses and warlocks. Falling in love. Liberating slaves, saving people. And what am I doing? Crying over some stupid boy and writing a paper in my English class on Moby Dick." She snorted, letting her leg dangle out the window as she rested her head on the pane. "At least you get to do something. You get to fly around to different worlds and give people good dreams. I barely ever dream anymore."

_She's never told me this much about her before._ Peter realized as he studied her face. Sure, she had talked about school and her friends and what she did on weekends and during the day, but she had never been so open about her longings to him before.

"I'm sorry… I wish there was – Wait!" He jumped into the air and laughed, floating in front of her as she looked at him like he had two heads. "Come to Neverland with me."

Her brow furrowed, and she stood on her bench to maintain eye level with him, holding onto the wall to balance yourself. "What are you talking about? You know I can't. I can't even fly, like you can."

"Yes, yes you can! It'll cheer you up, too! Come on, let's play!" He grabbed her hands and swung her around in a circle, giving her a boyish smirk. She stifled a scream and glared at him as he placed her back on the ground.

"No, I can't! In order to fly I would need –"

"Pixie dust." He completed her sentence for her, holding up the little bag that hung around his neck, grinning.


	5. Chapter 05 - Neverland

**Updating once more because, well, I leave tomorrow (technically today but w/e) to go home for Thanksgiving and therefore have no work due for any of my courses. And Horowitz and Kitsis left us without Once Upon a Time for another week which is extremely upsetting, therefore I have to fulfill my desire for it on my own. **

**Also, just felt like sharing in case anyone was wondering: I know Pan isn't very in-character according to the show so far in this fic, and that's purposeful. I really wanted to show an innocence and a happiness to him that isn't expressed in the show like it is in the Peter Pan movies I've seen (the Disney version and the live action version). I've heard a lot of people complain about that through Tumblr and the like, so this is my answer to them: Maybe he wasn't ****_always_**** like how H&K portray him in OUAT, maybe when he first turned into Pan he had a light to him, but something happened to turn him into who he is now (Besides, you know, abandoning his child to become Pan, there's always that). **

**That's what I plan on exploring in this fic, through the help of Lyra, of course. You'll see.**

* * *

For all of her dreams of flying, Lyra had been too afraid to try the pixie dust in her room. She looked into the pouch, saw the faintly glowing dust with a shy smile, but refused to let Pan sprinkle it over her.

"What if I fall?" She asked hesitantly, taking a step back towards her bed. Despite her love of climbing trees and getting to impossibly high perches, it wasn't the heights that scared her, it was the possibility of falling.

"You won't! Come on, it's easy, I do it all the time!" Pan circled her in the air, grinning as Lyra swatted him away.

"Yes, but you don't _need_ pixie dust to fly. You can do it anyways! Besides, you told me that anything is possible in Neverland, right? That all you had to do is think it and you could do it? It's not like that here, there is no magic." She retorted rationally, looking down at herself. She wore a sweater, leggings, and socks. If she were going to go to Neverland, she wouldn't be able to wear _that_.

"There's magic everywhere, sometimes you just have to look for – Where are you going?" He asked her, brow furrowing as she walked into her closet and shut the door.

"I'm changing!" She said as she pulled on a pair of brown jeans, a brown leather jacket, a green button down, deep green over-the knee socks, and worn-in black leather boots.

"So you'll come with me to Neverland?" Peter's face lit with excitement. The island was lonely with no one else on it but him, it would be nice to have a companion to play with.

Lyra stepped out of the closet, tying her hair up in a messy ponytail and biting her lip. Well, she had already changed, hadn't she? "Yes, but I'm _not_ flying there."

And that's how she ended up cradled in his arms as he jumped out the window and flew straight off into the sky, stifling screams as she looked down at the ocean below them. Her arms clutched his neck, eyes buried in his shoulder. "If you drop me, I swear to god I will kill you, to hell with your immortality." She growled through clenched teeth.

Pan smirked, slackening his grip on her for a quick second to hear her yelp, then holding her firmly once more. She slapped his chest in spite, angry and annoyed with him, but he laughed and kept flying.

When they finally stepped foot on the shores of Neverland, Lyra had never been so relieved to see dry land. She immediately jumped from his arms and sat down on the ground, lying back on the grass as she watched the sun slowly creep up over the horizon.

"It would have been easier had you just flown yourself, you know." Peter remarked from a branch high up in a nearby tree, lounging across it like a bed. Not that he was complaining, he quite enjoyed carrying her like that.

She could see him from the corner of her eyes, and she scowled at him. "Shut up, Pan."

He went to reply, but at that moment the prickling, burning pain came upon him again, and he fought back grunts and gripped the branch so as to keep himself from falling. He didn't want Lyra to worry about him, nor did he want to explain what was happening. He had already come to terms with it himself, and had decided the price of visiting her was worth it. Once the pain subsided, he glanced back at her, and thankfully she hadn't noticed.

After a moment she sat up, watching the sun gain height over the ocean. It had to be the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen, all oranges and yellows and pinks driving off the black of night. She sat there for a while, before turning to the tree where Pan sprawled across a branch. Jumping, she grabbed a hold of one of the lower branches and hoisted herself up, climbing until she stood on the branch below his, at eye level with him. Basking in the sun, he opened one eye and squinted at her, chewing a twig between his lips.

"It would have been easier to fly up, you know." He smirked at her.

Lyra pursed her lips into a mock smile. "I'm not exactly the one who has the pixie dust, now, am I?"

Pan sat up immediately, doing a back flip off the branch and cuckooing like a rooster. Lyra threw her head back and laughed, a deep, throaty sound which Pan enjoyed. He flew up to where she now perched on the branch, legs dangling and torso arched forward, and held the pouch in front of her. "Are you ready to fly, Lyra Hall?"

"I will be once you give me the dust, Peter Pan." One corner of her lips curved up in a half smile as he poured the contents of the little purse into his hands, then gently blew it at her body, watching it envelop her and glow before dissipating.

"Now, what do I do next?" She asked, not feeling any different.

"Believe." He replied simply, smiling as he flew backwards in the air away from her, and held out a hand. If she were to fly, she would have to do so on her own, but he would be right there to catch her just in case.

Lyra tipped her head back, closing her eyes as she soaked up the warmth of the sun on her skin. _Believe. _The word echoed in her head as she thought back to her dreams where she would run and jump into the open air, taking off at full speed and soaring through the sky. She drew on the boisterous joy it had given her, the amazing tightness of pent up energy she had felt in her chest right as she launched from the ground. How good it would feel to actually fly.

"I believe." She whispered, and fell forward, body going limp.

And she soared right back up, shooting past Peter and flying straight towards the open ocean, a shrill laugh of pure exuberance escaping her lips which turned into a joyous scream. She had never felt move alive. Swooping down, she dipped one hand into the water as she curved to head back towards Pan, twirling and whooping as she went.

He was waiting for her with his arms crossed over his chest, a huge, goofy grin plastered across his face. He had never seen her so happy, it was as if a new person floated before him, one who had never experienced the heartache he had seen on her face earlier that same night.

"This is amazing! Just… absolutely fricken amazing! Holy fuck!" She cursed as loudly as she wanted, unable to find any other words to describe her jubilation. She did another backflip just for the hell of it. "What else can I do here? You said anything was possible, right?" She grabbed his hands, eager to know more.

He laughed, clearly pleased with her happiness. "Anything you want. If you're hungry, all you have to do is think what you want to eat, and it will appear in your hand. You can create anything you wish to."

Lyra squealed and spun around, then held out her hand and thought hard about fresh salmon sushi. When she opened her eyes, there it was, eight neat pieces stacked in piles of two in her palm. She ate one and was so excited that she dropped the rest, but she didn't care. "Can I create things other than food too? Can I breathe fire and shoot lightning from my fingertips and–" She broke off into laughter again. She had to be dreaming, this was too good to be true.

Peter looked perplexed. "No, I've never been able to–" He broke off as he saw her create fire in her hand in an instant, then launch it back down at the water. She grinned and twirled once more, and Pan stared at her, dumbfounded. "How did you do that?"

Lyra giggled and flew closer to him teasingly. "You mean I can do something the great Peter Pan cannot?"

"I mean–"

"C'mon, show me your island, Pan! I want to see absolutely everything!" Grabbing his hand, she began to pull him back towards the shoreline, but he held his ground and pulled her back to him.

"Lyra, you just performed magic, do you realize that?" He spoke seriously, and she studied his face, confused, as he loosened his grip on her hand.

"This entire island has magic covering it, that's how I made the sushi before… It's the same principle, right…?" She wasn't understanding.

"Yes – I mean – no, not exactly. Only those who have magic in them can do something like that, someone inherently magical. Magic being in the atmosphere wouldn't affect that." His concerned expression vanished behind his mischievous smile as he took her hand once more, deciding not to push the issue. "You want to see the island? Come on!"

By the time they were finished the sun was setting, and they rested on a cliff in the middle of the island, heads next to each other's as they stared up a the sky, breathing hard. They had raced back to this spot to make camp for the night.

"You have quite a place here, sir." Lyra said breathlessly, smiling.

"Well, it's not all that great, but it is pretty nice." She could hear the smile in his voice as he attempted to catch his ragged breath.

They stared up at the sky for a while in silence, drinking in the view as the sun drooped lower and the stars peaked out from behind their veil.

"You said the stars here are actually worlds, right? Which one is mine?" She asked in wonder. There were more than a million in the sky already, and the sun was still setting.

Pan shifted in the grass in an attempt to get more comfortable. "It's off to the right – well, your left – in the north east quadrant there. It's a small dim one between two very bright stars – See! There it is." He pointed for emphasis, and she thought she knew which one he was talking about, but she couldn't be sure.

"What made you choose that one instead of the other two, or the other million? Why some dim, small star in the far right of the sky?"

"It seemed uncharted, like no one had ever bothered to go there because of how insignificant it was. It seemed like it would be a very good adventure." He admitted honestly.

Lyra chuckled. "And has it been, so far?"

"Oh yes, for sure."

There was a pause in conversation, but it was a natural, soft silence. A space to allow them to contemplate the day before the topic switched.

"Wait, so if there is no Tinkerbell, where does the pixie dust come from?" She asked, her brow furrowing.

"Oh, that's easy! It grows in the flowers at the top of those trees." He pointed to a tall tree with plenty of branches. "It's like… I guess pollen, in your world? But magical."

"Okay, good! I was afraid that was all the pixie dust you had, and I wouldn't be able to fly again." Lyra chuckled, yawning.

Peter turned his head to look at her profile as she fought to keep her eyes open. "What do you want to do tomorrow?"

Sighing, she stretched, arching her back and stretching her arms out above her head. When she relaxed, she turned to face him as well, their noses only a few inches apart. "Whatever you want to do, it's your island." She replied sleepily. "What do you want to do?"

Peter smiled. "We'll play a game." He yawned himself, but didn't take his eyes off her. "Goodnight Lyra, sweet dreams."

Lyra smiled, eyes already beginning to close. "Goodnight, Peter. Sleep well."


	6. Chapter 06 - Let's Play

**Thanks for all of you who are keeping up with the story and reviewing :) It really means a lot!**

**I know I didn't update at all yesterday and I apologize, I was sleeping and baking for Thanksgiving! And with that, Happy Thanksgiving everyone (or Happy Thursday for anyone not in America)! Enjoy the chapter!**

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Lyra awoke as the sun slanted through the trees, hitting her eyelids. She groaned and rolled over, pulling her blanket in closer around her shoulders to fight off the chill breeze as the smell of hot eggs and fresh bread wafted past her nose. Burying her face in her shoulder, she scrunched up into a tiny ball, desperately trying to grip the sleep that was slipping through her fingers.

Finally she gave a groan of defeat and sat up with a stretch and a yawn, shaking leaves and twigs from her hair. _Wait, when did I get a blanket?_ She thought with a start as she felt the scratchy wool fall from her shoulders. She didn't remember having it when she went to sleep. Glancing around, she was shocked to realize she was still in Neverland, as she had almost expected to wake up in her own bed.

"So it wasn't a dream…" She whispered as she threw the blanket off of her, standing up to stretch once more.

"Hello, Princess!" Peter jested as he flew past her to land next to the frying pan a few feet away, where he had made – err, summoned – breakfast. "I hope you like eggs in a basket."

"Don't call me princess…" Lyra grumbled as she walked over slowly, throwing her hair back up into a ponytail as she sat down by the fire. "What are eggs in a basket?"

"Not a morning person, I see. But then again it's not really morning." Peter laughed as he handed her one of the egg baskets from the pan. "It's eggs fried in bread. Try it, you'll like it!"

She took a bite and relished the warmth it gave her, and the taste wasn't bad either. After a few moments she felt like she was ready for normal conversation, and scarfed the rest down to reach for the next one. "So what's the plan, Pan?" She tried making a pun but clearly it was lost on him, because he didn't react at all, just stared at her for a second.

"Plan?" He was confused. He never had plans, he just did whatever he wanted to on his island.

"I _mean_, what are we doing today? You said we were going to play a game?" When she first heard him say that, she was slightly apprehensive. Back in her town, when someone said 'play a game,' it more often than not had sexual connotations. But now that sleep wasn't clouding her mind, she realized that wasn't what he had meant at all.

"Oh! Right!" He jumped into the air when he remembered what she was talking about. "We'll need pixie dust first, though!" He flew off towards a tree to their right, and she followed, beginning to climb rather than wait for him to come back down. By the time he had the pixie dust and came back, she was halfway up the tree, and by the time he noticed her she was at the very top.

"What are you doing?" He flew up to her, the pixie dust clutched in his fist.

"I wanted to see the island from here, and see the flowers the pixie dust came from." They were red, bulbous things, with little barbs at the end of the petals. She frowned. She had hoped they would be somewhat prettier than that.

"It would have been easier to fly, you know!" He never understood why she had to do things the hard way.

"When was the last time you climbed a tree instead of flying everywhere? There's a thrill that comes with climbing a tree that's different from flying, you should try it more often." She teased, reaching out for the pixie dust in his hand. He sprinkled it over her and she jumped up to be level with him. "So, what game are we going to play?"

The sun was still rising – no, it wasn't going up, maybe setting? – over the ocean. _I must have slept much later than I thought._ Lyra realized, though it couldn't have been later than 4 or 5 p.m., but she couldn't be sure. She didn't really know how time worked here. Glancing over, she saw that the sun was hitting Peter's eyes just so, making them look like green sea glass. She gave him a small grin.

Peter flew backwards in a circle, thinking, completely missing her smile. What game _should _they play? It had been a while since he played one. It was only the two of them on the island, so it couldn't be a very complicated game, but it had to take up at least a good portion of their time to keep them from getting bored. His face scrunched up into a frustrated grimace.

"Got it!" He exclaimed, turning to her. "It'll be like hide and seek, but different, kind of."

Lyra's eyebrows furrowed. "With just us to…? Um, okay." She was a little bit hesitant but let him run with it.

"Yes yes, well, it's not _exactly _like hide and seek." Waving away her less-than-enthused remark, he flew closer to her. "I know this island like the back of my hand. The sun is beginning to set now, right? So here's the rules. You have to hide from me until the sun completely sets, so maybe… three more hours? And if you can avoid me tagging you the whole time, you win. And if I can tag you, I win." He grinned.

She smirked. "Alright, well then let's raise the stakes a little bit. What does the winner get?" In reality she had no clue what she would want if she were to win, but she was determined to win either way.

"Anything they want." He returned her smirk, crossing his arms over his chest. "You have 10 minutes to hide, starting now."

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Lyra ducked down below some tree roots that stuck out the side of a hill, breathing hard as she gripped a root to steady herself. She glanced up at the sky. It was that beautiful dusky blue color, right before the sun fully set. _Ten minutes, I have about ten minutes until I win. Just ten minutes more, Lyra, ten minutes more. _She had been running and flying around the island for nearly three hours now, and every time she thought she was safe, Pan had appeared right behind her.

What was it that he had said? _I know this island like the back of my hand. _"He can sense where I am." She murmured in realization.

"You figured it out. Good for you!" She heard his smug voice behind the tree and took off running as fast as she could, building up momentum before launching herself into the air. She was careful to stay below the tree line, weaving in and out of the trees at random in an attempt to slow him down. Above the tree line he had the advantage, he could go as fast as he wanted and catch up to her in an instant; she had discovered this first hand and nearly lost their game because of it. But below the tree line? She had a little bit more of an advantage. She could toss things behind her and change directions at a moment's notice, causing him to either make sharp adjustments to follow or costing him precious time by slowing him down. So far, it had worked well for her.

She took a quick, dangerous glance at the sky. _Two minutes, maybe. _She decided, picking up her speed to attempt to outrun him. After a minute she broke into a clearing with a large, clear lake in the middle and streams running out in all directions. She flew slowly out to the middle, glancing around cautiously. Pan had been right behind her before, and now she had no clue where he was.

"One minute." She whispered nervously, glancing up at the sky. Looking down, she saw herself reflected perfectly in the mirror-smooth surface of the lake. She also saw Peter sneaking up behind her.

In an instant she was shooting up into the air, flying as high and as fast as she could, Peter hot on her heels. She broke the tree line in time to see the sun disappear below the horizon, right before Peter grabbed a hold of her ankle, but she didn't care by then; she had won, and she whooped and twirled, finally having a moment to relax.

Peter smiled at her jubilation. In reality he could have tagged her any time he had wanted, but he didn't want to ruin their fun. He would catch up to her as quickly as he could, then back off again, a repeated game of cat and mouse where the cat allowed the mouse to think it was winning. Yet when he finally decided to tag her, he had been too late: he had been paying more attention to the way the wind whipped her hair around than the sky.

"So I beat Peter Pan at his own game, wonder what the writers would have to say about this!" Lyra smirked as they slowly spiraled down towards the lake again, hands on hips.

Pan gave a gracious, humbled smile. She _had_ won, fair and square, which was something he admired. He hated cheaters. "At this game, maybe. I was a little rusty is all, I haven't played it in a while."

"Oh, are those excuses I hear, I think they are!" She mocked, high off the rush of the win.

"Not excuses, facts! Let's play again, I guarantee I'll win next time." He gradually floated closer to her. It was true: if they played again, he would win within the first 20 minutes.

"Sounds like _someone _is a sore loser." Lyra grinned and slowed down. They were nearing the lake now, and she didn't particularly want to find out first-hand how cold it was.

"Well, that makes you the winner then." Peter smirked at her.

"That's right, I am. That means I get my prize now, right?" It had suddenly grown very quiet, and all she could notice was the way his eyes shined in the moonlight. _Like jade_, she thought.

He took her hand, gently pulling her closer. "That's right."

"And what's my prize?" She asked quietly, not resisting him.

"This is Neverland. You can have anything you want." He pulled her gently against him, wrapping one arm around her waist, the other coming up to cup her cheek. He had been waiting for this moment all day, and he prayed she wouldn't say no.

Lyra glanced up at him through lowered lids, moving to stand lightly on his feet rather than focusing on floating. Her hands rested on his chest between them, and she could feel the muscles shift under his shirt as his head leaned in closer to her. "Peter…" She whispered, not in protest but not in affirmation, but as if she were about to continue her sentence before she gently leaned in as well, pressing her lips to his.

Peter's eyes widened as he felt her lips on his, unsure of what to do next. _She's kissing me back._ Finally he let his eyes slowly drift shut and let instinct take over, gently tilting his head to the side to deepen the kiss.

Lyra felt his tongue gently dart across her lower lip, and she opened her mouth a little for him, her tongue slowly running across his own as her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer. She stood on her tiptoes on the tops of his boots, smiling into the kiss before gently pulling back, breaking the kiss to look at him.

They smiled at each other, not saying a word.

* * *

**I follow Robbie Kay on Twitter and Instagram, and he posted a picture of him holding a Starbucks coffee yesterday and I swear to god this kid is a sass master in disguise. **


	7. Chapter 07 - Promises

**Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in forever, I was frantically studying for finals week last week and then I've just been vegging at my house since I've been home. Yay first semester is over and Christmas is almost here! **

**Also, I apologize for the absolutely ****_awful _****closing I gave to the last chapter. I wanted to do a whole lot more with it but I literally finished typing that and posted it as I was running out the door to go to my cousin's house for Thanksgiving.**

**Anyways, thanks for bearing with me guys! Here's the new chapter!**

* * *

Lyra slowly disentangled herself from him with a smile after a moment longer, blushing as she tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. She bit her lip as she sucked in a breath, glancing at his flustered expression before floating to gently land on the shoreline without a word. She sat down and rested her chin on her knees, staring out across the lake for a moment.

Peter refrained from whooping loudly and flying around the island five times, instead limiting his elation to clenching his fists very tightly and grinning like an idiot as he attempted to catch his breath. He hadn't felt this great since… well, he really couldn't remember. The last time he could remember was when he flew again, but –

_No, no, I won't think about that. Not right now. _He shook himself back to reality, noticing Lyra had flown down to the shoreline and was sitting on her own. Frowning, he followed her. Was something wrong?

Landing behind her, he put a careful hand on her shoulder and plopped down next to her, watching her eyes glaze as she lost herself in her thoughts. After a moment, he gently tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, Lyra…? Are you okay?"

She jumped a little as he tapped her, turning to look back at him quickly before blushing a little and looking away again. "Y-yeah, I'm fine… Just, sorry, sorry, this is stupid." She laughed and shook her head, her legs flopping apart to sit crossed-legged as she stared at her hands in her lap. She sighed. "I think I know what I want for my prize."

Peter's eyebrows furrowed and his eyes went wide. "But I thought that–"

"I never said I wanted that as my prize!" She gave him a laugh and a smile before resting a hand on his knee. "Though that was very nice, believe me. But _you _kissed _me_ before I could say what I wanted."

Electricity zinged through his veins where she touched him, and she gave him a mischievous wink. It took him a second to regain his thoughts. Thinking back, he realize she had never _said_ she wanted that as her prize, and he never asked, so technically she was right in saying she could ask for one now. He huffed at his own foolishness, then laughed. She had outsmarted him. "Alright, so then what do you want? Do you want to play tag? Oh! I could make you a necklace maybe!" He jumped up. The thought of doing more things with her excited him, and he was ready for another game.

She sighed and gave him a tired smile, taking his hands and pulling him back down to sit beside her. "Truth is, Peter… I just… I want to go home." She said sadly before looking back out at the lake again.

That caught him off guard, and it took him a second to remember how to say words. "But… why? I thought you liked it here, I thought you were having fun! Why would you want to go back to where you're upset and miserable? Where you can't just do whatever you want? That sounds so awful!" He pouted and looked out at the lake as well.

Sighing, she shook her head and shifted to face him, looking at his profile. In the darkness his eyes were a smudge of black. "It's not that I'm not having fun! I am! But I have family back home, parents and friends… and _responsibilities. _I can't just leave them. Running away won't solve them or take them away or make them any easier, because they'll still be there when I come back to them. They'll never go away. I need to go home and fix things. Besides, how long have we been here, anyways? Time isn't linear between our worlds, I could have been gone for a month even if it's only been two days! My parents must be worried sick!" She tried to reason with him, but his mouth was set into a hard line, and she could tell she was getting nowhere. Gently, she turned his chin to make him look at her.

"Please, Peter? Just because I'm going home doesn't mean I won't come back! I can't stay here forever. You said I would get a prize, anything I wanted. Can I have this please?" She pouted a little and stared at him until finally he broke with a smile.

"Fine, you're right. You played fair and you won. You get your prize." His mouth quirked up into a half smile. "On one condition."

"I don't remember there being conditions to having a prize!" She gave him a playful push as she stood up and brushed the leaves and dirt off her jeans, and he floated up to meet her, still sitting crossed-legged in the air. She laughed.

He straightened out, floating a bit above her as he gave her a serious expression, not one she had seen often. "Promise me you'll come back?"

Her face fell as she realized he thought she was leaving forever. "Of course I will, silly. Why wouldn't I? I may not be able to come back every night, but so long as you come to my window, I promise I'll come back to Neverland with you sometime. Pinky promise." She held up her pinky to him as proof.

Although he found the gesture amusing and kind, Peter could not keep the look of pure confusion off his face as he stared at her pinky. What was a…pinky promise? Was that what she called it? Hesitantly he held up his pinky as well, mirroring her, and she laughed as she linked his together with her own.

"It's supposed to lock in the promise and make in unbreakable. I can't blame you for not knowing it though." She smiled, and then stared up at the stars. "I guess we should head out now." While she missed her home, she knew she would miss Neverland, and she was sad to go.

"Do you want to fly yourself, or are you still too chicken to fly?" He laughed, crossing his arms.

"I think I'll choose the latter option, thank you. I'd rather not fall out of the sky once we reach earth." She smiled as he scooped her up and flew off towards the stars.

"You're such a girl, girls are always chicken." He smirked, but yelped in pain as she flicked his temple.

"My being chicken has absolutely nothing to do with being a girl, thank you very much. I'm chicken because I'm scared of falling, _not_ because I'm a girl. You'd best remember that." She said hotly. Comments like that were her pet peeve.

Peter just grimaced, choosing to nod rather than to give her a witty comment in reply. Clearly this was something she was passionate about, he wasn't about to purposefully offend her.

As they were reaching the upper atmosphere, Lyra involuntarily held her breath before realizing it was probably pointless, instead opting for burying her eyes in the crook of his neck once more. A thought occurred to her.

"What brings you to my window each night? I mean, well, time isn't linear between Neverland and earth, correct? What keeps you from appearing in a different country or city or century?" She had pondered it once before, but she never thought to ask him until now.

Stifling back a chuckle as her eyelashes fluttered and tickled his neck, he hesitated. The truth of the matter was that he thought of her every night when he visited: her room, her window, her hair across the pillow, her smattering of freckles or bright brown eyes, and he always managed to come back to her each time. He wasn't sure if he was ready to tell her that, though.

"I'm not quite sure. I guess I just think about you and where you live and someone that's where I always arrive." He answered truthfully, leaving out the details of his thoughts for good measure.

"So…if I think really hard about the exact night we left, the time and date and everything, do you think we'll come back on the same night?" She perked up at the thought, opening her eyes to stare at the smooth line of his neck but still not daring to look anywhere else.

He thought about it for a moment, never really considering that that could work. "I guess you could if you really thought about it. I'll think about it too, but hurry, we're reaching the edge of Neverland."

After a moment all she could see out of the corner of her eye was a bright whiteness, and she thought hard about her room, the time they left, the date they left, before they found themselves flying over dark Cape Cod currents.

When Peter landed on her window sill and gently placed her feet on the floor, she jogged immediately to her phone and checked the date and time, before turning to Peter with a goofy grin. "Same exact night, but an hour later. We did it!" Hushing her laughter, she walked into the closet to change grab pajamas and prepare a nice, hot shower.

Peter watched her walk around the room, watched her hips sway and her feet shuffle, carefully averting his eyes when she glanced over to him. When he realized he was no longer needed, he frowned, but decided it was about time he got back to his duties of ferrying children's dream-selves back to Neverland.

"I had better get going." He said, moving from where he leaned against the wall to stand near the window. "I have some things to take care of."

His seriousness caught her off guard, but in truth she had some things to take care of, i.e. showering, too that he couldn't be there for, so she knew it was for the best that he return to Neverland. She walked over to him and embraced him.

"I had a very good time with you in Neverland, Peter. Thank you." She whispered, before pulling back with a grin. "Tell you what, come back around midnight tomorrow night and I'll show you the Disney version of you. I'll make popcorn and everything."

Although he still wasn't exactly sure what she meant by the – what did she call it? Disney? – version of him, the thought of spending more time with her brought his spirits up tenfold.

"Alright! I'll be here!" He responded with a grin, before boyishly pecking her on the lips and flying off, leaving her staring out the window after him.

* * *

**I was thinking of maybe doing a Christmas AU with Lyra and Peter for Christmas, what do you guys think? Let me know in a message or a review!**


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